The Cat Out Of The Bag

The ruling party and the President may not want any reference to the biting economic challenges in the country.

Not in the open manner in which the chairman of the ruling party did a few days ago. Such brusqueness is anathema.

We can tell you though that National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Kofi Portuphy had many Ghanaians saying hurray when he said times are so hard he and his party are unable to raise the fine slapped on the panelists.

Even before delving into this interesting issue, we are excited about the inherent contradiction therein. In one breath, the NDC disowned the panelists who hop from one radio station to another spewing largely propaganda stuff to prop their party: a special allowance earmarked for their upkeep. Members of the propaganda industry, given their engagement by the ruling party, did not expect government to turn its back on three of their kind.

In yet another vein, the party chairman says his party is unable to pay the fine because, as he put it, 'we are in hard times in the country.'

Why would a party which has disowned three persons turnaround to claim it has no money to pay the additional fine slapped on them?

This, against the backdrop of the cacophonous demand for the President to invoke the powers bestowed upon him to pardon the incarcerated gang of three, suggests that the party could not have disowned the convicted guys as Ghanaians were informed earlier. It also suggests that the guys were acting in the name of the party: the offensive and obscene remarks about the judges, especially geared towards that goal.

The state of the nation remark coming from the chairman of a ruling party, which has been living in denial of the true situation in the country and patting its back for transforming lives, is instructive.

His impression about the state of the nation ties in with what most Ghanaians are feeling and which they unhesitatingly regard as the worst in living memory.

Having admitted that times are hard now, it is important to determine what is responsible for the rather painful conditions the country finds herself in.

Unwise economic policies are at the heart of the bad state of affairs, and the repercussions have cut across all facets of life in the country. In the face of this reality, the President and his propaganda machinery have tried to paint a bright picture to no avail. How can they succeed in throwing dust into the eyes of the people when the realities of the financial state are not lost on them?

Be it as it may, the party chairman has presented us with a real picture; cut and dry, the Terkper figures notwithstanding.