Ibrahim Mahama's Opulence: An Indictment of the Politics of Envy by Hon Abilolo Billionaire

I made two observations earlier today on my Facebook wall that got people talking. The NDC folks engaged in contradiction of sinners as that certainly is their only resort in the absence of any morally grounded answers. First, I noted rather ironically, that all it takes is to be seen doing a charity deed or two, and suddenly you are granted a moral mandate to flaunt opulence in a poor country like Ghana. Second, I posed a simple question: Is the show of extravagant living now a preserve of NDC allies, and how would Ghana react if a known NPP figure like Lawyer Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko bought a private jet?

The silence and the cognitive dissonance that follow these questions are exactly why we need to have a very honest conversation about the kind of country we are building. Because right now as it stands, the hypocrisy is staggering, and the propaganda machine of the NDC, designed to demonize the wealth of anyone associated with the NPP, must be called out and dismantled.

Let’s carefully look at the picture before us. President Mahama’s brother; rich man Ibrahim, can display a fleet of luxurious vehicles in a manner that screams opulence without solving a single practical problem in our sick society. He could go ahead and acquire a second private jet, and for many, it is perfectly acceptable, especially if he throws a pittance from his HUGE benefits from the State, into charitable deeds. And what is the NPP’s response? Deafening Silence! We even have members of the NPP like OPK the Mpraeso MP, eulogize Ibrahim in a Facebook post. Because we in the NPP fundamentally believe in private wealth. We understand that the private sector is not just a part of the economy but the engine of growth.

This is not a new concept or a thing unheard of. If you go through the history of our country, you’ll see that almost all the renowned business moguls Ghana and even the Gold Coast ever produced, were directly from the UP and NPP traditions. Think of titans like Appiah-Menka, the industrious Pharmacist Gyamfi Bikkai with that locally produced bestseller blood tonic like Super Viton to his credit, Boakye Mattress, Poku Transport, Chairman Oppong-Bio, White Chapel, etc. These have been pillars of local industry. And guess what happened to them? The same venomous envy that fuelled "wudinii" J.J. Rawlings’ destruction of these businesses and Livelihoods, is the very spirit that runs through the veins of the NDC today.

Their logic is simple and dangerous: if you are wealthy and not one of them, your riches cannot be the fruit of hard work or opportunity; it must be a product of corruption, and therefore, you must be dragged through the mud. Just like the ORAL that has brought them so much shame, they chase shadows with no evidence, relying on propaganda to stick. Is it not surprising to learn the Attorney General when pushed to deliver results, claimed the wild figures churned out by ORAL have been a figment of Okudjeto Ablakwa's imagination? Who, without discernment at the beginning of this government would imagine this could be? Who would have thought the ORAL that was heralded to tarnish the image of the Akufo-Addo government was just a fruit of glittering generalities and a waste of everybody's time? Well, you should manage your expectations with a John Mahama government!

Their appetite for spreading falsehood to score political points is sickening. We saw this play out in the most disgraceful manner with Aunty Cecilia Dapaah. Here is a woman whose husband is a distinguished architect, with enduring public structures like the GCB Towers at Circle standing as a testament to their family's legitimate wealth and professional pedigree. Yet, she was hounded and vilified because these do-nothing, envious individuals saw images of money in her home. Money that only became public knowledge because she was a victim of theft! The poor woman reported a crime committed against her, and the NDC saw it as a golden opportunity to tag an entire government as corrupt. They had no evidence of financial malfeasance from her tenure as Minister, but the gullible public bought into the witch-hunt. Aunty Cecilia had to resign, retreating from public life to live quietly. That is how we crowned the service of a distinguished woman who dedicated her life to her country. That is the nation we are building on a foundation of envy and spite.

But here is the big difference that must be clear to us all by now. The NPP has always advanced private initiatives to create private wealth. It was President Kufuor who gave this same Ibrahim Mahama the opportunity to break through in his engineering career when he had nothing. This narrative has been widely attested to by Ibrahim himself. Just as Obasanjo did for Dangote in Nigeria by awarding the contracts that allowed him to start local cement production; these are the mechanisms of a working country. Nations that want to develop must deliberately create wealthy people to serve as pillars in our collective pursuit of progress. The government can create legitimate wealth for individuals by awarding contracts and investing in potentials. And Wealth should not be a target on your back but more of a signpost of what is possible for a people!

The hypocrisy and the fooling of sections of our society must stop. If it is acceptable for Ibrahim Mahama to manifest his wealth openly, then we should have no issues whatsoever when a known NPP person like Hon Abilolo Billionaire with so many innovative ideas to create wealth, does the same. That is how a mature society functions. Wealth cannot continue to change hands violently or through political persecution after every regime change. Why must people become poor simply because their government left power? These sensational arguments and justifications for pulling people down have no place in the future we are trying to build.

Let's be Admonished! Those who serve; who put their lives on hold to dedicate years to public service, should be able to live a good life out of their own sweat, their family's legacy, and their private initiatives, without being subjected to public shame and envy. This can only happen when we stop the toxic cycle! The NDC party and government must learn to build its people and set them onto paths of progress, just as the culture in the NPP has always been to expose people to opportunities to do well.

What country are we building?
One where wealth is weaponized for propaganda, or one where enterprise is celebrated and accountability is grounded in proof? If we truly desire development, we must abandon this culture of selective outrage. Let's build a Ghana where prosperity is multiplied, not politicized. Where success is investigated only when there is established basis, not when there is envy. Where regime change does not mean economic exile for private citizens.

Finally, we must ask ourselves the harder question; Whose opulence do we applaud and whose do we condemn? And more importantly, who designed this marking scheme that grades wealth not by evidence of wrongdoing, but by party colours? Our politics of envy must end now!

By:
Michael A. Sarfo-Kantanka
[email protected]