PRESIDENT MILLS SACK KOKU ANYIDOHU NOW....AS HE IS UNFIT FOR PUBLIC POSITION

PRESIDENT MILLS SACK KOKU ANYIDOHU NOW!....HE IS UNFIT FOR PUBLIC POSITION

President Professor John Evans Atta Mills has not been kind to Ghanaians through the imposition of the loud-mouthed Koku Anyidohu as the Head of Communications at the castle, Osu.

I have said many times before and I guess I would do so many times again for so long as he continues to pervade high governmental places with his nauseous presence, that Mr. Anyidohu is unfit for public positions and the President has not been kind to us by imposing him on us!

Last week, Mr. Anyidohu had occasion to respond to the calls by the Minority to the Presidency to speak to the issue that people took bribes to the President. In answer to the legitimate call, Mr. Anyidohu described the Minority as irresponsible people making nonsensical noises. In any proper democracy, this statement coming from someone in the presidency would have led to a major uproar, but here, I guess that this insult is going to die a natural death like many others!

The President's adherents have often been at pains to paint him as a man of peace. I have always said that that can never be the truth, and the fact that he keeps the likes of Koku Anyidohu around to insult everybody at the least excuse is a testimony to this!

Anyway, why am I complaining as if the President would listen ? I guess he would keep Anyidohu around until the day he becomes too much of a liability. Then, of course, the disgrace would be too extreme!

Last week the Ghana Statistical Service issued a statement to the effect that inflation has gone down significantly in the last quarter of 2009. Under the misplaced assumption that this is some type of good news testifying to the achievements of the Minister of Finance, his ministry caused to be issued a statement to the effect that the minister had made significant gains in managing our economy!

My immediate response was to ask how the downward trend of inflation had been achieved, and the obvious answer was that there has been a major cutback in government spending. One may not understand this statement until we take on board the fact that government is the biggest business entity in our economy. When government stops spending, everything grinds to a halt and monies begin to disappear out of the pockets of people. It is why many makola women and Ghanaians in general are complaining of hard times in this holiday season. They do not have money in their pockets, because in some instances, government has cut back expenses by about fifty percent. The 'I Care For You' President at the Castle has cut back the allowances of teachers, nurses, drivers, policemen and all other professions whilst the cost of living has gone higher. He is 'caring' for us by making us poorer! All this is happening at a time that the government is busy spending on itself and its appointees as if there is no tomorrow! It is dedicated to improving the lives of its members, and it is why many members of government and party footsoldiers have started putting up mansions all over the place. Indeed, even the President is guilty of this! He is putting up at least one mansion that I can speak with authority on!

Whilst he is putting up the mansion, one other thing that has been occupying his attention is the on-going internal differences in his party. Last week, he held a meeting with the National Executive Committee and Council of Elders of his party the National Democratic Congress (NDC), as well the Majority Leader, Mr. Alban S.K. Bagbin.

Among the people who attended the meeting were some Ministers of State, leadership of the NDC Parliamentary caucus and other Senior Party Members, called to discuss the most appropriate way of dealing with concerns expressed by some members of the Party regarding the internal communication process, and the channels for addressing members concerns.

A statement issued in Accra on last Thursday and signed by Mr. Johnson Asiedu-Nketiah, General Secretary said the discussions were frank, constructive and cordial and those present made useful suggestions about deepening the process of consultation between the Executive and the various arms of the party.

The statement said: "It was agreed by members present that the discussions held had been very useful and provided the opportunity for the Executive to clarify a number of concerns that had been raised, and offered the other members present an opportunity to express their opinions on recent developments in the run up to the Party's Congress to be held in Tamale in January next year.”

A decision was taken to make these consultations between Government and Party a more regular feature in order to ensure that unity, internal cohesion and the focus on dealing with the development challenges facing the nation was maintained.

Personally, I think that this statement is revealing for many reasons. First and foremost, it means that since he won the presidency on the ticket of the party, the President has not been consulting with his party on a regular basis. In effect, he used the party to get to power, and then dumped it!

Secondly, the meeting did not include the people who have been causing the real trouble, namely former President Rawlings and Dr. Ekwow Spio Garbrah. I have no doubt that in future, Spio Garbrah in particular would continue to 'piss in' until he gets a result.

Why should the president be wasting our time and our ears on his party's differences? I do not know, but I hope that in future, he would be able to manage the internal party matters in such a way that it would not become a problem for the rest of us to waste precious time writing and talking about!