Lumba Visits Nana

Highlife maestro, Charles Kojo Fosu aka Daddy Lumba, yesterday visited the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, at his office in Accra.

'Daddy Lumba and his son, Charles Kojo Fosu Jnr, paid me a visit in my office a few minutes ago,' Nana Akufo-Addo said in a post on his Facebook page.

Nana Akufo-Addo recently told Bola Ray on 'Starr Chat' on Starr 103.5 Fm that Daddy Lumba is 'high' on his list of 'favourite' musicians. Nana Addo also enjoys Abrantie Amakye Dede's songs.

The three-time flagbearer of the party said in that interview that Lumba's recent hit song, 'Ye Nea Woho Beto Wo', also called 'Yentie Obiaa', is one of his favourite songs.

But unlike those who said they wouldn't listen to Ghanaians as the lyrics in the song suggest, he (Nana Addo) would listen to Ghanaians when elected president of the country.

The president, John Dramani Mahama, was seen dancing to the song with the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, at the Manhyia Palace recently.

He is also on record to have requested for the copyright of the track, hinting it might be used in 2016 as one of the NDC's campaign songs.

But Nana Addo told Bola Ray he enjoys the song only for its aesthetic appeal and 'not for the purposes for which other people use it. As for me, I listen to everyone.'

Lumba composed a song for Nana Akufo-Addo for the 2008 electioneering campaign in which he said Nana Addo was a winner and that Ghanaians should vote for him.

The song was given massive air time and played at social gatherings, especially by members and sympathisers of the NPP, even after the election because of its danceable tune.

Dumsor
Nana Akufo-Addo had just returned to his office after a series of weekend activities, including addressing students of the University of Cape Coast where he said the energy crisis, popularly called dumsor, was devastating the economy.

He wondered why 'government apologists are saying that after the government resolves the dumsor crisis we, as opposition people, will have nothing to talk about.

'I am astonished by this proposition,' Nana Addo said, adding that dumsor 'is not a campaign weapon. It borders on the very survival of our country.'

Nana Addo stated that the estimates made by the highly respected Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), University of Ghana, put the cost of dumsor for 2014 alone in excess of GH'1 billion.

He reiterated that if the nation considers the fact that the erratic power supply has been going on since 2012, 'then we are talking about a national loss of some GH'4 billion.'

Layoffs
The NPP standard bearer noted, 'Today, industries are folding up; workers are being retrenched; livelihoods are being lost; people are dying needlessly in our hospitals; our economy is in serious decline; all of which add up to the ravages of poverty and diseases. These are not matters about which a nation can recover with the wave of a hand or with the resolution of the crisis of dumsor.'

'How does the resolution of the crisis of dumsor resurrect the many Ghanaians who have lost their lives in hospitals across the country? How does the resolution of the crisis of dumsor restore the livelihoods of the thousands of workers who have lost their jobs? How does the resolution of the crisis of dumsor restore the loss of productivity over the past three years?' Nana Addo queried.

He continued, 'I know of a group of investors who have their factories around the Achimota Brewery, and who manufacture plastic products. They have closed their shop and are leaving for Ethiopia. There are many, many such stories. Today, investor confidence in our country is at an all- time low. The GH'4 billion that this nation has lost to the crisis of dumsor can per the calculation of this government, build about 60 senior high schools.'

The NPP flagbearer also recounted the suggestion made by the Director General of Ghana Health Services, Dr Ebenezer Appiah-Denkyira, to health facilities to charge patients an extra amount of money to take care of the cost of dumsor.

'Already the health insurance scheme which the NPP government under President Kufuor introduced has collapsed and to think that we will have to pay extra to take care of dumsor is unimaginable,' he added.