Re: Nana Akufo-Addo Rules Out Money Grabbers

Re: Nana Akufo-Addo Rules Out Money Grabbers

By Margaret Jackson

Mr. Yaw Osafo-Maafo, is known to many Ghanaians as a banker who once served as the managing director of the National Investment Bank during the Rawlings regime until he was booted out. He has been friends with ex-president for many years so it was not difficult for Osafo-Maafo to join Kufuor’s campaign team in both the 1996 and 2000 presidential elections. When Kufour won the 2000 elections, luck smiled on Osafo-Maafo so he was appointed the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning. Some unexplained circumstances later pushed him to head the Education and Sports Ministry.

At the Education and Sports Ministry, something happened between Kufuor and Osafo-Maafo of which the ex-national chairman of the NPP, Mr. Haruna Esseku was privy to. In the event of that incident Osafo-Maafo lost favour with Kufuor and was therefore booted out by Kufuor. The rumor mill which later became very credible had it that, Osafo-Maafo, landed on booty at the Ministry of Education, and greedy as he is, decided to cash in alone. When word however got to another ravenous chap, Kufuor, he summoned Osafo-Maafo and asked him to declare the loot.

But word had it that Osafo-Maafo was not happy with the demand by Kufuor to split the booty and told him to allow him to keep the “little” kickback he had also chiseled from the Education Ministry since Kufuor was getting the bigger ones at the Osu Castle. Kufuor who was very offended and not happy with the behaviour of Osafo-Maafo asked Kwadwo Mpianim to draft his dismissal letter immediately Osafo-Maafo left the castle.

Ladies and gentlemen, that was how Kufuor and Osafo-Maafo fell out, and that is the main reason why Osafo-Maafo came and joined hands with Akufo-Addo, and played a major role in his 2008 campaign and is still a linchpin of his 2012 campaign.

During the Woyome saga, Osafo-Maafo was fingered out as one of the dirty hands. In fact if this man was clean he would not have run to court to stop the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) from inviting him to testify.

We are all living witnesses when finally Osafo-Maafo honoured an invitation from the police Criminal and Investigation Department to testify on the Woyome issue. I know Akufo-Addo would not again feign that he is not aware of this development.

It is however important to note that Osafo-Maafo who came to Akufo-Addo with his ideas also came with his bag of money. In fact his ideas and money which he brought to support Akufo-Addo’s campaign is not for free. He hopes to cash in big time if fortune smiles on Akufo-Addo and he becomes president in 2013.

But Akufo-Addo who has been fighting on several fronts to rebrand his battered image keeps throwing vain promises in the air without even looking at the character traits of those he had surrounded himself with. I bet you if Akufo-Addo is serious about his presidential campaign he would not have issued a stern warning that he would not entertain anybody who wants to enrich himself/herself from serving in his government, in the event of his victory in the up-coming presidential election.

If Akufo-Addo is a serious person he should pick the phone and call Kufuor and simply find out from him why he dismissed Osafo-Maafo from his government. And this is the same man corrupt man who is one of the special and most coveted advisors and insiders of Akufo-Addo’s campaign. So if indeed Akufo-Addo is serious about fighting corruption why has he surrounded himself with people with questionable and shady characters? The NPP folks who are determined to come to power at all cost would not see anything wrong with this. In fact they would even forget that since charity begins at home, Akufo-Addo should have cleaned his messed up inner circle before making those statements that tend to make him a laughing stock at the kitchen tables of voters.

Akufo-Addo should also note that one does not necessarily have to serve in government before he/she can become corrupt. All the filthy deals that went on during the Kufuor’s government were deals cut by behind the scenes businessmen and women, so this warning by Akufo-Addo to demonstrate that he is a steel willed person would not fly with anybody. People who know Akufo-Addo very well and what he stands for; continue to shake their heads in disbelief as this man continues to say things which he hopes will resonate with voters and just get him elected. The presence of Osafo-Maafo alone in Akufo-Addo’s inner circle makes a mockery of his statement on corruption.

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Nana Akufo-Addo Ditches Bawumia

Nana Akufo-Addo Ditches Bawumia

By Margaret Jackson

No party compares or come close to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) when it comes to sweeping issues or things under the carpet. They are masters and very good at keeping the lid on stinking issues as long as it takes or able to bully their way through to keep everybody guessing. Even when there is internal wrangling, unlike the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the NPP is always able to whip their members to submission or force their members to tow the party line. This political strategy has worked to their advantage in most instances.

Most of the time, we see the NPP folks demonstrating their nice tooth-paste smiles in public even when they are butting heads. This cosmetic display is aimed at throwing dust into the eyes of Ghanaians that all is well within the NPP, and that there is solid rock unity among them. This mechanism that the NPP has adopted has prevented the party’s dirty linens from being hanged for public view. 

That is why the NPP has kept everybody guessing as to what actually transpired when the Council of Elders met in the middle of January, 2012. Even though many people knew that the meeting was meant for Nana Akufo-Addo to tip off the elders concerning his choice of a running mate, but because the meeting came to a stalemate, the NPP claimed it was just another meeting but nothing special. As usual, many people believed what the NPP said, but credible information that has bounced off my forehead indicates otherwise.

But before I drop the bombshell, I want to put it on record that the Asante/Akyem clique within the NPP is very real. This has nothing to do with partisan politics. And the two factions to a large extent would play towards the fortunes of the NPP in the up-coming elections in December, depending on how all knotty issues between the two factions are worked out.

Ex-president Kufuor was heavily blamed by the Akyem faction within the NPP for adopting a lukewarm attitude towards Akufo-Addo’s 2008 presidential campaign. But the Asante faction also contend that they did not have a hand in the selection of Akufo-Addo’s 2008 running mate, Dr. Mumuni Bawumia, who they thought was one of the reasons why Akufo-Addo lost the election. That is why when the NPP Council of Elders met in the middle of January and Akufo-Addo intimated that he wanted to keep Bawumia as his number two, the Asante faction within the elders kicked against it. Akufo-Addo was told pointedly that Bawumia would never be accepted as the number two because he does not bring any good tidings to the table.

But when Akufo-Addo decided to stand his ground just like he did in 2008, he got the rudest shock of his life. He was told in the face that Bawumia does not qualify to be his running mate, and that he Bawumia actually joined the NPP in 2008, some few weeks before he became Akufo-Addo’s running mate. Akufo-Addo who got stone-faced was further warned that if he insists on Bawumia he would see some of them in court.

Akufo-Addo who was at this point not very happy at the turn of events then asked the Asante Mafia led by ex-president Kufuor who was their preference running mate. The NPP flagbearer then got the rudest shock of his life when the name of Alhaji Mohammed Nuru-Deen Jawula Lepowura of the Kpembe Traditional Council in the Northern Region, was dropped by the Asante Mafia as their favoured choice for the number slot. Akufo-Addo, who felt Jawula was being imposed on him told them meeting that he should be allowed to go with the candidate he would feel comfortable to work with, but the elders did not bulge and informed him that it is either their way or the highway. End of NPP Council of Elders meeting.

Ladies and gentlemen, ever since the end of that meeting, Akufo-Addo has tossed on his pillows praying fervently that his party’s Council of Elders, would change their stand on Bawumia, but it seems the die is cast and that nothing would change their minds. Now the scuttlebutt has it that Akufo-Addo after a bitter soul searching has finally agreed to ditch Bawumia for fear that the Asante mafia within the party, may try to derail his campaign or presidential ambition if he does not go with what they are saying. Therefore, Bawumia has finally become the sacrificial lamb who has been slaughtered.

But the funny thing is that Akufo-Addo who does not know how and what to tell Bawumia is playing cat-and-mouse game with the former deputy governor of the Bank of Ghana. As things stands now it would be the wildest miracle that would push Bawumia back to the top list of running mates being considered by the Council of Elders. And from the look of things, it looks very bleak for Bawumia, who many NPP die-hards consider as a political neophyte, who apart from his high flying academic qualification and job experience does not bring any credible thing to the NPP political table.

Does it therefore stand strange to you that Akufo-Addo is yet to name his running mate with 10 months left for the December elections? I tell you, there is serious in-fighting on the issue and the Asante mafia is bent on getting its way, otherwise, they have threatened to keep their purse whilst Akufo-Addo do it on his own to wrestle power from the NDC who they see as more formidable than in 2008.

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BBC Floors And Exposes Akufo-Addo

BBC Floors And Exposes Akufo-Addo

By Margaret Jackson

He got the nerve to describe a sitting president as visionless and without focus. And since he loves throwing words around, he even went further and stated that, that same sitting president is not marketable. Somebody who is seeking the highest office of the land, describing the incumbent president as not marketable? This is laughable. Where they are going to market that sitting president, nobody knows. But my wildest guess would probably be in Kyebi. In fact, he claims that he would turn Ghana into a first world in 4 years, something his NPP government of which he was part, could not do in 8 long years.

Like a man who is desperate to win a lady’s heart by all means, he has been going round like he did in 2008 promising the moon to Ghanaians to justify that if you bamboozle the electorate with loaded words they would conclude that you are indeed a man of vision. The other day he said during the 2012 Oppenheimer Lecture that Africa’s young and enthusiastic Facebook generation has no time for non-performing leaders. But charity, they say begins at home. Therefore, this man forgot to add that in any given responsibility, one has to perform creditably before he/she decides to seek a higher one.

The Ghanaian voting public knows this man very well; especially his signature tune which also qualifies as his key campaign promise which he sings or trumpets at every turn of event. In case you just tuned in, I am talking about Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the presidential candidate of the NPP for the 2012 elections. During his door-to-door campaigns in the regions (I will later bring you the untold story about those campaigns); Akufo-Addo informed Ghanaians that he was going to make education fee-free up to senior secondary school level when he wins the elections. This visionless and unattainable talk or promise by Akufo-Addo would have been considered laudable if he had told Ghanaians how he was going to do it, the cost involved and how he was going to raise the money for that tall order project.

At the Oppenheimer Lecture, Akufo-Addo, again did not fail to highlight his so-called vision on education, by stating that, “Africa needs a confident, educated workforce to be able to compete effectively in the global economy. That is why, for my part, I have made education the foundation for my vision to build a knowledge-based, industrialized economy in Ghana. Access to free, quality, basic universal education is our key to effective participation in the new global economy. Our human potential has not yet been developed to match and capitalize on our continent’s rich resources. Until we bridge this gap, we are squandering opportunities that could move us forever away from a culture of handouts to a culture of hand-ups and the creation of dignified and confident societies.” Beautiful and excellent talk!

But Mr. Akufo-Addo, I am a full-blooded Ghanaian, born and bred here, therefore, if you are really seeking the highest office of my dear country, and would want to do something that would uplift the lives of Ghanaians including me, why should I envy or oppose you? I would be all for it, if indeed it is something credible that could be tested and measured. But if your numbers do not add up or your programme falls short when it is put under the microscope, then I and every Ghanaian who have cause for concern are right on target.

Indeed, that concern was amplified when Akufo-Addo was interviewed on BBC’s “Hard Talk” programme on Monday, by Mr. Stephen Sackur. Answering a wide range of questions the over confident Akufo-Addo did not disappoint when he over-bloated his ego by bombarding the air with so many unattainable goals. But when Akufo-Addo thought he had hit a home run and was therefore, going to get away, suddenly and from nowhere, Mr. Sackur put him on the spot by asking him a question concerning his fee-free education signature tune.

Ladies and gentlemen, that was when Akufo-Addo was caged, floored and exposed by the BBC interviewer. I could not imagine someone who has been blowing hot air about fee-free education going on the BBC programme and cannot say how he was going to fund that over-ambitious project? When Akufo-Addo was again asked by Mr. Sackur how much the programme was going to cost, Akufo-Addo looked for the safest entrance and dashed through it by saying he would tell Ghanaians first. Heaven help this man, because he demonstrated during the interview that he does not have any plan for the fee-free education and that he has been deceiving Ghanaians.

If indeed Akufo-Addo has any credible information on the so-called fee-free education or the estimated or actual cost involved, he would have stated it there and then during the interview. Knowing Akufo-Addo as he is, he is only silent on issues which he has no answers for or guilty of. The exposure of Akufo-Addo by the BBC should serve as an eye opener and clear indication that Akufo-Addo is simply deceiving Ghanaians just to attract their votes but has nothing new to offer the country but would continue from where Kufuor and his looting brigade left off, if we should make the mistake of making him our next commander-in-chief.

In this world, nobody who has been trumpeting on an issue time and time again would fail to table it or hammer home on it to buttress his/her point when given the opportunity. Such chances do not come often, so when you get it you make very good use of it. But if you fail to do that, it gives a clear indication that you are not on top of that issue. It may also mean you are clueless of what you have been trumpeting.

I know the NPP folks would hit me hard for daring to say that Akufo-Addo is hollow and does not know anything about figures even though he studied economics at the university. But if they really love Ghana and wants to see it progress, the NPP folks should know by now that their man Akufo-Addo is simply not the best candidate they want to thrust on the throats of Ghanaians. Akufo-Addo is simply blowing hot air and this would not resonate with voters who are looking for workable and achievable programmes and campaign themes. The days when politicians come and con voters with unfeasible promises are over. Therefore, Mr. Akufo-Addo, please get real!

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Ursula Owusu: No Married Man Has Been Faithful To His Wife

Ursula Owusu: No Married Man Has Been Faithful To His Wife

By Margaret Jackson

In order to become the master, the politician poses as the servant.  ~Charles de Gaulle.

In Ghana’s political arena she is known as the queen mother of foul language. She has an acidic tongue that can spew a lot of gibberish into the air on any given day. That seems to be her trademark. When she goes on air, she insults everybody and everything on sight thinking she is the best brain and the all-knowing person around. Nobody begrudges her because her party, the NPP, needs people of her calibre to do its dirty job. In case you still do not know whom I am talking about, please let me introduce to you the NPP Parliamentary candidate for Ablekuma South, Ursula Owusu.

Ursula Owusu has hustled her way to fame in the NPP circles as not only the “buga buga” politician who can go on air and slight President Mills at will, but she also doubles as the alleged consort of the NPP flagbearer, Nana Akufo-Addo. As a result of her dual role in the NPP, she walks on everybody with her domineering posture thinking everybody has to kowtow to her.

This is the lady who has decided to contest the Ablekuma South constituency on the ticket of the NPP in the upcoming December elections. But ever since she won the NPP primaries in that constituency something strange seems to have befallen Ursula Owusu. Owusu seems to have toned down on her insults as a way of putting up a good face and image building to deceive the people in her constituency into electing her as their next parliamentarian.

But as the leopard doesn’t change its spot, Ursula Owusu is back in the news again. She is reported to have stated that as much as the NPP is all for issues based campaign which is devoid of their lies and diatribes, the party members will not tolerate any verbal attacks directed at their flagbearer, Nana Akufo-Addo. In fact, Owusu was reported to have added that the NPP will reply in equal measure any slanderous things launched against Akufo-Addo, and that one is non-negotiable. 

Ursula Owusu, who was on Peace FM, also admonished public speakers and the media to be guarded by what they say and to always have it at the back of their minds that Ghana comes first. Excellent advice, but it seems Ursula Owusu is eight years late with this kind of advice. Where and when Ursula learnt that public speakers and the media have to watch their utterances, I do not have a clue. She does. I cannot image this lady who laces her biting comments against her political opponents with profane innuendos now admonishing others to be careful with what they say.

Please wait a minute more, Ursula was not done yet. Now here is a direct quote from Ursula, “We should be circumspect in our speech and focus on selling our message instead of vilifications; without getting personal. What has someone’s personal issues got to do with his campaign. I don’t know which man will boldly say that ever since he got married he has been faithful to his wife, if there is such a person, he should stand up for all of us to applaud him.”

Now why do you think Ursula veered into this gallery? Akufo-Addo has been accused of many, many things. These accusations are not personal insults. How can you claim that Akufo-Addo is being insulted if people simply demand why he released the assets of an internationally known drug baron, Raymond Amankwah, his brother-in-law, back to him when he was the Attorney General? Or if I asked Akufo-Addo to explain why he cheapened Ghana’s diplomatic passport by issuing one to a drug baron, would you consider that as an insult? If you put these questions to Akufo-Addo you are just questioning his judgment on issues, but not insulting him.

Ursula Owusu also stated that someone’s personal issues have nothing to do with his/her campaign. Hey Madam Lawyer, it does if you are seeking public office to be paid with public money. Ursula, you personal issues would be on the table, because if you are a known thief the people of your constituency have to know in order for them to make their own decisions as to whether to vote for you or not to become their representative in parliament. Or if you have ever gone to jail or have something lurking in your cupboard the public has the right to know because at the end of the day, you will draw your salary from the sweat of the public who pay taxes. I do not think if you have a criminal record and apply for a job at the Bank of Ghana or any other reputable corporate institution; you are going to get the job if their background checks confirm it. We are talking about someone who is aspiring to become the Commander-in-Chief of Ghana. Therefore, if Akufo-Addo’s judgment on critical issues that will affect the country’s national security and safety is questionable, Ursula, I am telling you, we need to know. This should rather be the non-negotiable issue.

Ursula Owusu is currently not married. Probably she never will, because she may be enjoying the comfort of someone’s husband. Otherwise, how dare her say that she does not know of any man in Ghana, who will boldly say that ever since he got married, he has been faithful to his wife. This is the most insulting comment to men of this country, and I urge men in her constituency to take note. They should rebel by not voting for her. Is Ursula saying that every married man in Ghana is sleeping around with other ladies? Hell no! This is very offensive to men.

I am telling Ursula that there are thousands upon thousands of men in Ghana today who have never ever slept with other women since they got married. And I am putting it to her that if men in her party are doing that, so be it, but she should know that other men are faithful, love their wives and do not go chasing after other skirts. Therefore, that generic statement by her is simply baloney and has no place in this country. I know that there are some men who have been unfaithful to their wives but to make such a sweeping statement accusing all married men of sleeping around is simply wrong, disrespectful and unacceptable.

I am even disgusted that Ursula Owusu even challenged faithful married men to stand up for applause, thinking that there are none in Ghana. Somebody tell this lady that there are multiple men with impeccable moral characters walking on the streets of Ghana. And it is because of her so-called loose lifestyle which is why Ursula has not yet found any good man in Ghana leading her to be chiseling around other people’s husbands. Therefore, if she wants to justify her own low moral standing, Ursula Owusu should never drag everybody into it. What she said was reprehensible, offensive and insulting to Ghanaian men. And I reject it because I have brothers who are morally upright.

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Nana Akomea Is A Kenkey Politician

Nana Akomea Is A Kenkey Politician

By Margaret Jackson

It is not easy or funny to find your back suddenly glued to the wall in a helpless situation. When you hit situations like these you either pray silently for God to remove the thorn in your flesh or simply turn the tide in your favour. There is this famous saying that desperate situations call for desperate tactics. That is why the NPP folks who have been reeling under severe pressure (How I wish Ras Kimono were around to help out the NPP) for the past three weeks, which has led them to have relentless bad press have been looking for any possible loophole to help them change their sinking political fortunes.

First, their vociferous “hitman”, Kennedy Agyapong, who has saved the NPP from serious doldrums in the past, has been forced off the political turf to contend with his own problems concerning drug charges leading him to abandon the defense of the derailing NPP train. As a result, the NPP which had been riding the political waves unchallenged since the Mills administration took power, but has suddenly seen a rejuvenated NDC folks taking the game right to their backyard with their incessant dismantling of the character trait of their flagbearer Nana Akufo-Addo and the real intensions and overall goal of the NPP, have become totally disorganized. If you ask me, I would better qualify it by saying that the NPP is in total disarray or in tatters.

The NPP’s communication team has been searching for answers for the past three weeks to save the party from the severe beatings and uppercuts from the NDC folks. They have tried everything to help them salvage their political kismet which is being swept off their feet, but they have not been able to come out with any workable solution yet. That is why the NPP communication team headed by Nana Akomea suddenly devised a dubious means to slam dunk the NDC and change the political surge which is fast going in favour of the NDC.

Ladies and gentlemen, the terms “Kenkey Politics” and “Kenkey Politician” have suddenly found themselves into the country’s political fray or dictionary. How it happened can best be explained by Nana Akomea. This man who has been having it extremely tough these days to push the lies of the NPP into the throats of voters, went on Radio Gold and told listeners that due to the severe economic strains engineered by the Mills administration, a small ball of kenkey is now selling on the market for ¢1.00.

This blatant lie by Nana Akomea who has been labeled by the Daily Post as the Miscommunication Director for misleading the public, did not go down well for many listeners as well as journalists who immediately went round to interview kenkey sellers in certain parts of Accra and found out that a ball of kenkey was in fact selling around 30Gp, 40Gp and 50Gp. But to make sure that they have a well rounded kind of information, certain journalists even went to Nana Akufo-Addo’s own backyard or hometown in Kyebi and found out that a ball of kenkey was selling for 50Gp. Even a resident of Cape Coast who identified himself as a sympathizer of the NPP expressed anger on Radio Gold at the “kenkey politicization” lies churned out by Nana Akomea saying that such barefaced lies do not help the cause of the NPP at all.

Just as the kenkey politics was heating up there was a news flash that President Mills, has paid an unannounced visit to the Nima, Maamobi and Mallam Atta Markets to ascertain the actual prices of basic goods, especially that of a ball of kenkey which Nana Akomea has been politicizing. And to the surprise of Ghanaians it turned out that Nana Akomea simply doubled the price of kenkey to enormously throw lies into the eyes of the voting public and also divert attention from the severe strains that the NPP is currently going through. 

You should have heard how pathetic Nana Akomea sounded and how he struggled for words to explain how he came by that price for a ball of kenkey when he was interviewed on air after President Mills had paid the visits to the three markets. I would never want to be in such a situation. Ever!  Akomea’s lies flatly fell in his face and the NPP looked very little and humiliated whilst President Mills looked taller and dignified.

It is true that Ghana experienced some inconsistency in its rainfall patterns last year leading farmers to lose out on most of their agricultural products. But the Ministry of Food & Agriculture under Mr. Kwesi Ahwoi seems to have the foresight which was missing during the eight years that the NPP was in power.

Readers would recall that the Ministry of Food & Agriculture has established the National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) to ensure the security of farmers and insulate them against loses which results from increases in food production. The NAFCO which has been mopping up excess produce from farmers to reduce post harvest loses has been purchasing food and preserving them against lean seasons. It takes a wise government under a wise leadership backed by wise brains to do this kind of thing. If this is not a visionary thought, then I do not know what it is. I 

I am happy to say that part of the excess food purchased and stored by the NAFCO was released into the system which has ensured the relative stability in the prices of maize and other farm produce. That is why the price of a ball of kenkey is still selling for 50Gp and not ¢1.00 as being falsely claimed by Nana Akomea and his NPP folks. When you stick your neck out and make a big claim which turns out to be a big time lie you make a mockery of yourself, which is why Nana Akomea today qualifies as the Kenkey Politician. 

Nana Akomea’s reprehensible behaviour has resulted in many people shaking their heads in disbelief, and the NPP is still struggling to make damage control out of the fallout. Indeed this is the party whose flagbearer Nana Akufo-Addo continues to claim that President Mills is visionless and lack ideas. If somebody who is visionless and lack ideas is able to cause the establishment of NAFCO to help stabilize the prices of food products all year round, then what would you call the NPP leadership which for eight years turned the country into just a buying and selling point without any help to the farmers of the country?

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Are Motor Cycle Drivers Above The Law?

Are Motor Cycle Drivers Above The Law?

Ask Margaret Jackson

It is agonizing for me to admit that in Ghana it is painless for some people to break the law with impunity and get away with it. That is why when we see some people doing certain things which we consider as unlawful, we normally just look at them and move on quietly without questioning them or their motives in doing those things. These little things which we fail to question, over time, become overblown national crises.

There have been several instances when we come across some people breaking the law. Instead of someone just stopping to question the motive or alerting the responsible authority or the police we just look on and move on. Most of the time, people who come across these acts make conclusions that since they are not responsible it is better for them to mind their own business and move on.

It is more than two decades ago when somebody boldly started selling dog chains around the TUC traffic light intersection. When others saw that his trade was booming and that nobody was bothering him, they also moved in to sell different items. Over time we saw bits of trading activities springing up at traffic light intersections around Achimota, 37 Hospital and Kaneshie 1^st Light among others. Today we have over 3,000 individuals selling various wares at all the major traffic light intersections in Accra on any given day.

Due to the inability of the Accra Metropolitan Authority (AMA) to do something with the initial dog chain seller who broke the law by selling on the street, today they have over 3000 people to contend with. Since these traders make a lot of money by selling on the streets to take care of their families and loved ones, moving them permanently from the roads have become a toxically political issue which no party would want to address.

We have been talking about Sodom & Gomorrah and the chaotic but explosive situation there. Authorities have expressed concerns about how that place could one day explode leading to untold misery of greater proportions. Yet, party by party seems to be turning a blind eye on the situation at Sodom & Gomorrah. It is not because nothing can be done to move the people in that area who are occupying the place illegally. Something can be done, but it is estimated that the population of people living in Sodom & Gomorrah has ballooned to over 45,000, which far exceeds the population of the Akosombo Township by more than 10,000.

As a result, moving the people in Sodom & Gomorrah would be the greatest headache and mistake of any government in power. That is why it has been all talk for the past 10 or more years but little action. You are talking about a big voting block and any party that dares to dismantle the area would pay dearly at the polls.

But the big question to ask is did Sodom & Gomorrah spring up overnight? No, it did not. It started when one or two people brazenly put up a ramshackle house and started to lodge there. Some people in authority may have seen them but said or did nothing. Others who are not in authority also may have seen them but turned a blind eye. But evil prevails when good men fail to act. That is why today we have over 45,000 illegal occupants at Sodom and Gomorrah to contend with.

Another chaotic and volatile situation seems to be brewing in Accra. I have seen it; many people have also seen it. And I bet you the authority responsible for averting the messy situation is very much aware about the problem. But nothing has so far been done. People are breaking the road traffic laws with impunity and brazenly whilst the police or the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) has no clue about what is going on.

The motor cycle drivers in the country especially those in Accra seem to have different traffic laws. To start with most of these motor cyclists drive without their helmets on. There is this motor cyclist who I see very often driving two kids to school daily. None of the kids have helmets but this man does not seem to care but drive the kids to and from school. I bet you a policeman may have seen him but nothing has been done so this motor cyclist thinks what he is doing is okay and cool. What happens if calamity struck one day when he is driving the kids to school? What do you think will happen to the kids if this cyclist is involved in an accident? You guess is as good as mine.

Motor cyclists in Accra drive anyhow. They do not observe any traffic regulations and jump red lights with impunity. In fact they wait for nobody. They just drive and you see police officers directing traffic just looking at them to do their own thing.

What angers me the most is that there have been multiple occasions that some of these motor cyclists in an attempt to avoid huge traffic jams drive in the opposite direction forcing on-coming vehicles to squeeze and create rooms for them in order to avoid hitting them. They simply have no respect for anybody on the road and the MTTU people are simply helpless.

I am disgusted that the MTTU boss, Mr. Awuni Angwubutoge, a trained journalist, who see these disgusting situations by the motor cyclists has done nothing to address it. My biggest question is what are we waiting for? Are we waiting for a big crash which would lead to deaths before we jump in to arrest these offending motorists?

Are the road safety committees in the country not aware about what is going on today on our roads concerning these motor cyclists? Don’t they see what they do on our roads? Somebody tell me, if these motor cyclists have different laws. And if they don’t have different laws, why is nothing being done about their incomprehensible behaviour?

Truly Ghana is turning out to be a country of many laws, but most of these laws are not being observed or enforced. As a result, many citizens have taken advantage of the do-nothing enforcing authorities to do their own thing. We wait until certain issues balloon to higher proportions before we jump in to act. But most of the time out marking time has affected us big time leading us to spend more money and time to clean up our act. But I must conclude by saying that time like tide, waits for no one.  

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Akufo-Addo Says Ewes Have Been Voting One Way

Akufo-Addo Says Ewes Have Been Voting One Way

By Margaret Jackson

If you entertain the ambition of ever holding a public office, be warned of remarks you make today, especially if you happen to have people around you. In the pursuit of your political ambition, if you intend to court the votes of a certain ethnic people, group or an organization, you better not make any disparaging comments against them since those remarks could come back to haunt you big time. If you want to become a career politician be very careful about your big mouth since it could spew fire that would eventually consume you.

To me politics is about being shrewd, prudent and expedient all rolled in one. It is a game that has no prize for those who place second. Like basketball, you either win or lose. There is nothing like a draw. Therefore, if you really want to win in politics, every word that you articulate to voters has to be measured carefully because once you utter it, you cannot take it back. Remember, the first gut feeling is normally the correct one.

The late Mr. Kow Nkensen Arkaah, (Stubborn Cat) was the former vice-president of the country. He served under Efo Rawlings from 1992 to 1996. During the electioneering campaign for the 1992 elections, Arkaah lambasted the NPP by blasting the party’s symbol, the elephant, as a destructive animal. He told a gathering of NDC supporters at a rally that since the elephant is very destructive, so would the NPP be if voted into power. But something happened between Rawlings and Arkaah which most readers know very well. The two of them fell apart whereby Arkaah who was the vice-president suddenly started opposing Rawlings and also stated categorically that he will never resign his position.

In view of the problems between Rawlings and Arkaah, the latter switched gear and moved to the NPP camp, and eventually became John Agyekum Kufour’s running mate in the 1996 presidential election. What Arkaah did not know was that the NDC had a ready-made ammunition waiting to unleash on him. The ammo was simply by playing the words of Arkaah back to him, and it was very effective and powerful. How can somebody who claims the NPP is a destructive party suddenly go and join the same party and even become its running mate? Mr. Arkaah felt highly uncomfortable when adverts upon adverts showed him stick a knife into the same party he has joined hands with. The day Kufour lost the 1996 elections was the day he hugely regretted for making Arkaah his number two. Beware of what you say today!!!

In the Third Republic, the NPP, then called the Popular Front Party (PFP) had its presidential candidate called Victor Owusu. During the electioneering campaigns, the PFP realized that things were not going well for them in the Volta Region. The PFP became seriously handicapped in the region, and as a result they did some soul searching and cast lots. Funny enough the lot fell on no other person than their own presidential candidate Victor Owusu.

It was found out that Victor Owusu had made some withering and serious comments against the Ewes hence the struggles the party was encountering in the Volta Region. Victor Owusu was found to have stated that the Ewes were in-ward looking people. Why Victor Owusu said that only God knows. The PFP then thought of doing something to save their fortunes in the Volta Region. They went and begged the chiefs in the Volta Region with drinks and slaughtered cows to appease the people in the area. But ladies and gentlemen, that act by the PFP did not save Victor Owusu from the wrath of the Voltarians. They considered what the PFP did as too little, too late. As  result, Victor Owusu suffered a humiliating defeat in the Volta Region in the 1979 elections which was won by Dr. Hilla Limann.

But there is this wise saying that coming events always cast their shadow. If this saying is not true, Akufo-Addo who did not have any good traction in terms of votes in the Volta Region, would not repeat the same mistake that Victor Owusu made. Readers would recall that not quiet long ago Akufo-Addo embarked on a door-to-door campaign but cunningly labeled it a listening tour. What he went to listen only God knows. Akufo-Addo’s door-to-door took him to the Volta Region, the area that has always looked at the United Party with suspicion because of their disdain to the Voltarians.

Since a crab can never beget a bird, or since a decorated donkey is still an ass, Akufo-Addo’s tongue slipped big time into the gutters burrowed by Victor Owusu. He told the Ewes in the face and in their own backyard that they have over the years voted one way. And therefore, it was time for them to mend their ways and vote for him and the NPP. One way and inward looking, is the difference wide or close? You be the judge.

What is incomprehensible is that, it is not only the Voltarians who have been voting massively for one particular party. If anything at all, the Ashanti and Eastern Regions are equally guilty. So my question is, can Akufo-Addo go to the Ashanti and Eastern Regions and charge them for voting one way? Why did he single out the Voltarians? The NPP folks think that the matter has died down, but they are far from the truth. It has rather brought bitter memories to what Victor Owusu did to the Voltarians in the 70s.

I am betting you that this time round, the Voltarians would not be amused even if the NPP slaughter the alleged elephant that Akufo-Addo sneaked into the country to celebrate his assumed victory in the 2008 elections. Truly the NPP folks have not learnt anything since they lost the 2008 elections. That elections were largely lost when Ghanaians came to the conclusion that the NPP folks were an extremely arrogant bunch of people. Have they learnt anything, I may ask? I am very afraid to say that even the arrogance being demonstrated by the NPP folks today has reached new decibels unprecedented in the annals of Ghana’s political history.

I am therefore, inclined to conclude that the Voltarians would remember what Akufo-Addo said all the way from now till elections day on December 7, 2012. It is on that day that they would indeed demonstrate to Akufo-Addo that yes, they having been voting one way, but it is for a good reason and it is to demonstrate that they a proud group of people just like any other tribe in the country. The Voltarians I must state are not second rated citizens and they are equally a good bunch of people with equal stake in the country.

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Ecobank’s Sinking Image

Ecobank’s Sinking Image

By Margaret Jackson

It has become a common norm for many businesses to take Ghanaians for granted once they get their foothold in the country and start making huge profits at the backs of their customers. As a result, many of these businesses who roll out excellent services at the beginning of their operations, over time, resort to stinking services much to the disadvantage of Ghanaians. And the most worrying aspect of it all is that, these companies do little or nothing when customers begin to raise concerns about the kind of services they receive.

Ecobank, is one of the leading banks in the country today with many branches. The company which has grown from leaps to bounds has even merged with The Trust Bank, but I am saying it on authority that Ecobank, offers the worst Automated Teller Machine (ATM) services in the country today. Ecobank’s ATM services simply stinks and most of their customers and staff members can confirm what I am saying. The bank offers the worst form of ATM services when compared to other banks operating in the country.

It all started way back in September 2010, when Ecobank’s ATM services started to develop severe problems. On any given day a customer can drive from Ecobank’s branch at Weija through Mallam, Dansoman, Odorkor, Agblobloshie Market, Ecobank’s Head Office, Osu and through to Labone and realize that all their ATMs are down. And it is very disheartening that the only lame excuses given to customers are that “We are aware about the problem and are working on it.” So for almost 17 months customers of Ecobank have been suffering softly from this intermittent malfunctioning of Ecobank’s ATMs without any comprehensive action by the bank to address the problem.

It may interest readers to know that customers are normally put at this disadvantage situations by the malfunctioning ATMs on Fridays through Sundays. And the situation is even worse at the end of the month. Therefore, Ecobank customers have to swallow their pains and frustrations by running from one branch to another with the hope of getting a functioning ATM which normally does not happen.

The most strangest thing happens when you even go to the very Head Office of Ecobank at Ridge and realize that all the three ATMs there are also down. The lady who is in charge of the bank’s ATM services in the country or Accra has simply lost it, because she does not provide any encouraging information as to when the bank will fix this terrible problem once and for all. She is normally found throwing her hands up in the air to signify her own frustrations with the bank’s management’s inability to help in putting this blight to bed.

Many Ecobank customers are very angry because when they go to other banks to use their ATMs they are charged a fee which Ecobank will not refund as a courtesy for their malfunctioning ATMs. Indeed many customers are grumbling that Ecobank is taking them for a ride whilst others have threatened to close their accounts and do business with other banks if this problem is not fixed immediately.

I am told some customers have even sent emails to the Managing Director of Ecobank Ghana, Mr. Samuel Ashittey Adjei, but they have not yet received any responses from him. And I bet you if this article is published you will see Ecobank scrambling all over the place trying to do damage control by way of either giving lame excuses or try to fix the problems with the ATMs.

There is another problem with Ecobank that I want to bring to the notice of the public. Due to fraud, many customers are afraid to give their documents or ask basic questions from non-bank officials whenever they go to banks to do business. It is therefore good that when you enter many Ecobank branches you will see the following statement boldly displayed at their counters;

Caution:

Dear customer. Do not accept any assistance when withdrawing or depositing

cash/cheques from non-staff. Please identify staff members with their name tags.

Very well said! But I am afraid to inform readers that this bold display by Ecobank warning customers against fraudsters is simply cosmetic. Reason being that on any given day you can go to several Ecobank branches and see tellers of the bank giving customer documents like passports/drivers licenses/voters identification cards to the security men/women on duty to make photo copies for them. I am not lying because I took it upon myself and visited several Ecobank branches to ascertain the truth about this allegation and it proved to be true. 

Why would tellers of Ecobank feel too big to stand up to go and make photo copies? The reason is obvious. These tellers who were like angels when they were looking for jobs seem to have grown wings and feel too big to stand up from their cubicles to go and make photo copies, hence their penchant to ‘use’ the security men/women on duty. Do the tellers not know that a crook security man/woman can go and make two photo copies of a customers’ identity card and keep one for something creepy? Don’t they know that a criminal security man/woman can sell information about customers to fraudsters if they get hold of their documents?

I am tempted to say that Ecobank has a long way to go. It is not good or funny if for 17 good months Ecobank with all its bragging and pomposity has not been able to fix its malfunctioning ATMs. Truly somebody must be sleeping at his/her job otherwise this should not take the bank more than a week to fix. Is Mr. Adjei saying that he is not aware about this terrible unpardonable problem? And is he happy to be in his suit and sit at his comfortable office every week whilst customers upon whose back he enjoys all those comforts troop from one branch to another looking for a functioning ATM just to withdraw their own God given monies?

Ecobank’s image if they still have any is indeed sinking. And if the bank is unable to resolve these problems that I have raised, I would be forced to come out with more. Stay tuned!

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Kufour Is Akufo-Addo’s New Campaign Manager

Kufour Is Akufo-Addo’s New Campaign Manager

By Margaret Jackson

Strange things are happening these days in the country’s political gamut, and I bet stranger things which are yet to unfold are still in the pipeline. That is why bizarre things we never assumed to be possibilities in the political playing field are weirdly enough unfolding before our very eyes. Therefore, I am being pushed to predict that by the time we hit mid-year when the political campaigns would have peaked, Ghanaians would better understand me better.

Ladies and gentlemen, the number one stranger in town today is no other person than ex-president John Agyekum Kufour. He has not been indicted of committing any crimes yet. In fact he has not been accused of smoking the weed or having a heavy smoke around his head when he wakes up. I do not recall Kufour being captured on camera fondling the breast of a make-up artist nor did he facilitate the issuance of Ghana’s prized diplomatic passport to a jailed drug baron.

But what Kufour has been doing has sent many tongues wagging. Kufour has hit the campaign trail big time. He is currently the unofficial campaign manager of Nana Dankwa Akufo-Addo. Kufour is presently doing what he failed to do in 2008, by touting and defending Akufo-Addo at every turn of event. This sudden change of attitude by Kufour I am told has even shocked Akufo-Addo beyond belief, and he is reported to have stated that if Kufour had done just a quarter of what he is doing today he would have been sitting on the highest throne of the land today.

You may label Kufour’s actions these days as Redemption if you want to, but that word would painfully remind the NPP folks of the National Redemption Council headed by the late General Kutu Acheampong that dismissed the government of Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia from power in 1972. If we go with the word Liberation, still the NPP folks would feel highly uncomfortable since the Convention People’s Party (CPP) had never forgiven the NPP folks for having a hand in the National Liberation Council’s coup that sent Dr. Kwame Nkrumah packing to the political oblivion in far away Guinea. So let us try another word. To be on the safest side, I guess we can settle on Emancipation since that word is yet to be tied to any political event in the country.

Ever since Akufo-Addo lost the 2008 presidential election to President Mills, the NPP folks never forgave Kufour and thought he played a passive role during the campaign events. In fact some NPP people quietly accused Kufour of doing little or nothing to help Akufo-Addo when Kufour’s assumed heir apparent, Alan Kyeremanteng, lost out at the NPP presidential primary to Akufo-Addo. Even though this conspiracy theory exist in NPP circles the sudden approach taken by Kufour to polish his image by selling Akufo-Addo to Ghanaians has taken many NPP folks by surprise and are wondering what next he would do to help Akufo-Addo who has seen his popularity and numbers dipping within the past two weeks.  

I am tempted to say that Kufour after listening to himself and the various criticisms labeled against him after Akufo-Addo lost despondently to President Mills in 2008, is maybe trying to emancipate or redeem his name and image by going all out this time round by whipping the campaign of the “dead horse”, Akufo-Addo.

But in his perceptible attempt and over anxiety to sell Akufo-Addo to the voting populace, Kufour may be hitting the wrong cords and saying things that may rather come back to hurt Akufo-Addo’s campaign. Kufour stated during the NPP “gargantuan rally” held at Mantse Agbonaa, in Jamestown, that Ghanaians were yearning for Akufo-Addo, adding that Ghanaians were looking forward to a quality leader like Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

Ever since Kufour left office in 2009, he is just continuing from where he left off: traveling, since he claims its part of his hobby. Therefore, if Kufour happens to be in Ghana, his main outings have been to funerals, engagements and weddings of closely knitted NPP folks. He has not done just a single solo campaign event for Akufo-Addo. So one may ask, where did Kufour go that he heard Ghanaians yearning for Akufo-Addo? At those funerals or weddings or on a campaign event?

To add insult to injury Kufour said Ghanaians were looking forward to a quality leader like Akufo-Addo. Quality indeed! If Akufo-Addo has some special qualities in him, why did Kufour support Alan Kyeremanteng in both the NPP primaries for 2008 and 2012 presidential elections? What is Kufour seeing today in Akufo-Addo that he did not see in 2008 hence his lukewarm attitude towards his campaign? Kufour should stop throwing dust into the eyes of Ghanaians, because the last person he Kufour wants to see at the Osu Castle as President of Ghana is not called Nana Akufo-Addo.

But wait and hear more from Kufour. In an interview with journalists after the rally, Kufour touted Akufo-Addo for showing maturity and “impressive restraint” in the face of petty and “rather immature propaganda” from the NDC. Kufour stated that despite being the target of persistent vile propaganda and concoctions, Akufo-Addo had shown impeccable maturity and restraint by not responding in like manner.

Impeccable maturity and impressive restraint? Please, add more for Kufour. Now I have gotten Kufour caged and would want him to provide answers to some simple basic questions. It was not too long ago when the George Walker Bush Motorway was commissioned. It brought competing claims as the NPP was demanding full praise for securing the funding for the project that was executed under the leadership of President Mills. But another claimant in the person of Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom, also emerged. But acting like a swift crocodile Kufour jumped from one radio station to another stating that he is the sole person who secured the funding for the road project. He lambasted Nduom for daring to claim part of the funding credit.

Ladies and gentlemen, look at the way Kufour moved swiftly to fight Nduom off the George Walker Bush Motorway funding. Do you think that by Kufour’s behaviour on this project if it is rumoured today that he smokes the weed, would he sit down quietly as Akufo-Addo has been doing and do nothing? Won’t Kufour say anything? Won’t Kufour who is so obsessed about his legacy fight it out? Will he dodge for people to fight for him? Just look at how Kufour fought Gisselle Yajzi, who accused him of fathering her twins? I personally do not think so. Therefore, for Kufour to praise Akufo-Addo for keeping quiet on serious charges that got a school kid in the Central Region to tell Akufo-Addo in the face, “Naa Nana, Naa Cocaine”, is indeed incomprehensible.

Ever since the Woyome issue broke out Kufour has been part of the NPP gang that keeps accusing President Mills of having a hand in the whole stinking incident. He is reported as saying that since the issue happened under the watch of President Mills, the buck stops in his office. Fair deal, if only Kufour would also take blame for the issuance of Ghana’s diplomatic passport by Akufo-Addo to the disgraced but jailed drug baron, Raymond Amankwah during the time he Kufour was president of Ghana.

Kufour claims Akufo-Addo has unmatched credentials when compared to President Mills. Now bring it on! Can a man who claims to have unmatched qualities just sit there and do nothing when three women of his party were arrested at the Kotoka International Airport for attempting to smuggle cocaine? And Kufour calls this impeccable maturity? In the Lord of War movie, it is stated that, "Evil Prevails when Good Men Fail To Act.”

Ewuranom Ghanafo, if you are being accused of being a thief and you claim to be one of the top lawyers in Ghana, what do you do? Is it cool to dodge everybody and keep quiet and later get praise from Kufour for showing “impressive restraint”? How impressive can it be?

I have my last question for Kufour. Assuming he has a big company employing 24 million people, that he is looking for a good, well-mannered and seasoned CEO to man. Kufour then advertises in the newspapers and lots of people show interest and therefore apply for the job. Later, three of the candidates were short-listed for interview for that big job. Would Kufour without cross-checking the backgrounds of the short-listed candidates simply assume that they all have impeccable and impressive moral characters? What then happens if Kufour does not allow the backgrounds of the candidates to be cross-checked and the one who eventually bamboozles the interviewers gets the job, only for the company to realize two weeks after he had taken the job that he has a criminal record? How would Kufour and his company look in the eyes of the 24 million employees? Mr. Kufour, with all due respect, this is the possible mistake that we Ghanaians want to avoid.

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