President Mills 'Fools' the People of Dagbon!

Ya Na Yakubu Andani

'I will heal wounds and unite the nation. I will bring peace to Bawku within 100 days into my administration' - John Fiifi Atta Mills.

Ladies and gentlemen, the deception, the lawlessness, the arrogance, the incompetence, the political insults and the several cases of corruption among government functionaries continue unabated under the Mills-Mahama administration.

The NDC government has made mockery of not only Ghanaian women, hard working teachers, medical practitioners, youth and Muslims, but has also succeeded in 'fooling' the people of the Western Region, our noble farmers and the three northern regions, especially the people of Dagbon. Why should Ghana become a victim of propaganda as if the whole populace is not intellectually competent?

John Mills has been described as a wicked man by Spio Garbrah, a vice chairman of the NDC. Jerry Rawlings says he would have no message for the electorate in the 2012 general elections and has urged his party's Electoral College to reject Mills in the upcoming NDC congress.

Within two years into Mills' administration, a vice chairperson of his own party intends to contest him for the flag-bearership position due to his leadership paralysis. How could any objective-minded person be convinced that the NDC is a genuine political party worth-supporting? The above-mentioned problems have arisen as a result of the litany of broken promises by John Mills.

Upon assumption of office, John Mills 'fooled' all Ghanaians by the fuel price hikes because a gallon of petrol, which was sold at GH¢3.60 in 2008, is sold at GH¢7 in Ghana today. Mills promised to put money in the pockets of Ghanaians when voted into power, but this promise is yet to be fulfilled.

There has been an astronomical increase in the rate of taxes on all goods and services and the resultant economic hardship is unprecedented in the annals of the country's history.

For instance, road tolls have been increased by over 1000 percent, utility tariffs - electricity, water, gas have all gone up by over 90 percent. In the face of all these unbearable economic conditions, the President's response to Ghanaians was that they complained too much.

In his quest to ensure human safety and security, John Mills stressed that the NDC intended to provide equipment, logistics, office and living space required for effective Police.

Mills indicated that he would set up a truly non-partisan, competent and independent commission on the murder of the Ya Na - Yakubu Andani II and his elders, and also prosecute all persons found responsible for the murder of Alhaji Issah Mobila of the CPP.

This was a promise to the people of Dagbon as captured in the 2008 NDC manifesto. Where is the presidential commission, if I may ask? We woke up one day and realised that over 40 people from the Abudu family had been scooped at dawn from their bedrooms by the police and the military.

And as I write now, 15 of them who were standing trial at the law courts have been acquitted and discharged for lack of evidence. What does the NDC government take the Abudus for? What does John Mills take the Andanis for?

The actions of NDC foot-soldiers over the past 26 months leave much to be desired. These 'fool' soldiers have been seizing and burning public places of convenience, car terminals, markets, offices including their own party headquarters. Gold Coast, which was renamed Ghana at independence, was not satisfactory to the NDC.

This is because in 2008, the NDC thought it wise to rename Ghana as 'Cocaine Coast' in apparent reference to the hard work of the security agencies in exposing people trading in the illegal drugs. So would the NDC be bold and fair enough to rename Ghana as 'Armed Robbery or Cholera Coast' in the face of the series of armed robbery cases, motor accidents, flooding and mining disasters, cholera and fire outbreaks in Ghana?

Let's turn our attention to the Western Region. The treatment meted out to the people of the Western Region is pathetic.

Not only were the remains of the region's most celebrated son moved to Accra, thus denying them a major tourist attraction and revenue, but also the NDC, which promised to use 10 percent of the oil revenue to develop the region, has failed to honour the promise. John Mahama, on a campaign platform in Takoradi on 31 August, 2008, gave such promise.

And now the Western Region, which lays the golden egg of Ghana, in terms of the region's contribution to the country's GDP, lacks behind in infrastructural and socio-economic development.

Another group that has suffered as a result of Mills' broken promises is the Ghanaian women. John Mills said: 'The NDC would strive to achieve at least 40 percent representation of women, both in government and public service, as well as within their party'.

He maintained that the NDC would give special attention to micro, small and medium-sized business financing and create jobs, both directly and indirectly, especially for the youth. But what do we see today, my dear reader?

The Mills-Mahama administration allocated only 11 percent of their appointment to women as against His Excellency, J.A. Kufuor's 25 percent. His reason was that Ghanaian women are not interested in politics.

That is the NDC for you. Interestingly, the 5 th Parliament of the Fourth Republic has 19 female MPs, and out of this, the NPP has 15, the NDC has 4 and only 1 is from the CPP. Questions that need to be asked are: which of these political parties have the welfare of women at heart?

What measures have the NDC put in place to improve the plight of our women? Even John Jinapoh - the spokesman of the Vice President of Ghana, tags our women as prostitutes for being in politics. The serial killings of women, together with the atrocities meted out to the Ghanaian women during the (P)/NDC days, are a clear testimony of the NDC's attitude towards women. I hope our women folk have not lost their memory.

The least said about political appointments, the better. John Mills promised to rationalize government's Ministries and form a government on expertise and competence - not party or family interests. He said: 'The NDC will uphold the Constitution by ensuring equality amongst all Ghanaians and that economic and social development, agriculture and industrial programmes must benefit all regions of Ghana'.

Mills contended that the NDC would avoid the appointment of Ministers and MPs to positions of Chairman or Chairperson of Public Sector companies, to avoid intrusion of the party. Have these promises been fulfilled? Not at all, because the Chairman of the NDC, Kwabena Adjei, 'the Cat', is the Board Chairman of the GETFund; Joe Gidisu, an NDC MP, is the Chairman of the Road Fund Management Board; Doe Ajaho, an NDC MP and 1 st Dep. Speaker of Parliament, is the Board Chairman of the National Health Insurance Authority and Alban S.K. Bagbin, an NDC MP and Minister of Water, Works and Housing, is the Board Chairman of the Ghana Civil Aviation Fund. Also between January 2009 and April 2011, Atta-Mills has appointed over 80 people from the Volta Region (his 2 nd home) into sensitive government positions at the expense of other regions.

Mills himself has admitted being a proud captain of the Team B administration. Is this not a clear insult to mother Ghana which boasts of rich human resource?

On corruption, Mills said the use of state resources for personal gain by a few has derailed earlier gains to better the lives of Ghanaians, adding that precious resources of hard-working Ghanaians were wasted in corruption.

Touching on the remedies that NDC would be putting in place to rectify the situation, he noted that there would be no excuses for corrupt officers and that the Serious Fraud Office would be reorganised to be independent of the party, and that CHRAJ would be strengthened to fight corruption even without an 'explicit complaint'.

He continued that the NDC would abolish the Office of Accountability that Ghanaians believe protects corrupt officials, and revise the law on asset declaration to increase transparency and accountability.

Prof. Mills intimated that the Freedom of Information Bill would be enacted to enable the public to have access to official information and support the role of the media.

The situation now is terrible because not a single appointee in the Mills-Mahama administration has declared his assets.

The series of scandals – Kyinkyinga Muntaka, 'Car stealing syndicate' Wilson, Mabey & Johnson culprits, Mahama Ayariga - the tractor grabber, Armajaro  cocoa issue, Asiedu Nketia's block making factory, etc, are credible evidence for Mills to act on.

This is what John Mills, who claims to be a law expert, said on law and justice: 'The NDC would support alternative dispute resolution to avoid costly and delayed litigation, strengthen the Legal Aid system and stop the political manipulation of justice by separating the Attorney General from the Ministry of Justice'. How separated is the Attorney General from that of Justice?

Has John Mills strengthened the Legal Aid system by condoning and conniving with his party chairman, Kwabena Adjei, to cleanse the judiciary by way of killing the cat, or was justice given to Amina when she was kept behind bars for more than 48hours? I leave it for readers to provide the answers.

By Katakyie Kwame Opoku Agyemang