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12.07.2004 Article

NPP Be Wise!

By Nii Saki Akumia
NPP Be Wise!
12.07.2004 LISTEN

The NPP enjoyed a massive goodwill from the populace and this is what catapulted them to power. The goodwill enjoyed was such that, any presidential candidate the party presented would have won the 2000 elections.

Events coming after the 2000 elections have showed that the party has taken this goodwill for granted. It should have been very difficult for anyone to accusse an NPP minister/appointee of corruption because the example of the NDC being associated with corruption was very fresh on everyone's mind. The ideal situation would have been for every NPP appointee to try and live above reproach.

There were stories of appointees rejecting materials that have been suggested for renovations of government bungalows and rather going for ostentatious lifestyles only a few days into their administration although it had been trumpeted that the nations coffers were empty and that the NDC had milked the nation dry. It was a pity to hear all the stories making the rounds these days. How could this be happening after all that has been said about the NDC and corruption. This gives you the impression that there is not much difference between any two Ghanaians after all.

The best scenario would have been for the NPP and it's appointees to say that due to the way the NDC government had run the country down, they were all sacrificing and as such would take pay cuts and accept whatever was given to them as government bungalows for the first four years. It would have been a difficult decision but this way, all Ghanaians would realise that their leaders would be sacrifing with them and that the NPP was serious in it's efforts to turn the economy around. This way, the NPP party could have been assured that it would be governing till thy kingdom come because Ghanaians would see for the first time a serious attempt at nation rebuilding.

The NPP must see to it that the issue at Dagbon is resolved as quickly as possible. What is happening at the NRC now after so many years must make the NPP wise. This will come back to haunt the NPP after so many years so the issue must be resolved now. It is going to be a very difficult task but it must be done now. You leave this unsolved at your own peril because somebody would be seeking justice, even after 50 years. Kwabena Adjepong claims that it was not until such a long long time that first arrests were made for murders of the high court judges, and compared to this, it has been two whole years since the Ya Na's death. Does the NPP honestly believe that a government with NDC links will let this issue rest? Unless the NPP believes it will be in government forever. Bringing the perpertrators of the Ya Na 's murder to book now will save the NPP a lot of embarrassment one day.

I listened to Kwaku Baako, Kwabena Adjepong and Tsatsu Tsikata and another gentleman on a radio station and was surprised by slips that Kwaku Baako and Kwabena Adjepong made.

Imagine Kwaku Baako giving the whole nation the hint that Chris Asher will actually reappear at the NRC. As soon as he said this, Tsatsu Tsikata capitalised on it and said he would be very pleased to meet Chris Asher again at the NRC. Kwaku in an amateurish way, went on to say that he was actually speculating but lo and behold, the following week, Chris Asher was at the NRC.

It is not too wrong for Kwaku to be going round giving pieces of hints anytime he feels like but it gives you the feeling that certain unseen hands are controlling whatever is happening at the NRC.

What is happening at the NRC is historic and very very serious business and as such we must not give anyone reason to question the real motives for setting up the commission. Judging by news coming out of the sittings, one does not get a real sense of reconciliation going on. We must not attach politics to reconciliation. Posterity will certaily judge us at the end of the day.

The AFRC in it's inception enjoyed an overwhelming goodwill from Ghanaians and I can confidently say that it surpassed the goodwill the NPP enjoyed in 2000, but we are all witnesses to what happened to that AFRC goodwill. President Kuffour's NPP must be wise and not take the goodwill they are enjoying for granted. Ghanaians are good natured people but they are not stupid. There is certainly a limit to their endurance.

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