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16.02.2012 Opinion

Where Is The Vice-President?

By Daily Guide
Vice President John MahamaVice President John Mahama
16.02.2012 LISTEN

The loop holes, inconsistencies and inadequacies in the whole debt saga involving Mr Alfred Woyome and the connivance of certain top officials to swindle our nation has left me to question the whereabouts of the Vice President, who is technically in charge of our nation. It is very strange that nobody has mentioned his name to date; neither has he made any voluntary comment on the 'scandal of the century'. We are in extraordinary times, consumed by weird issues and bizarre circumstances, and it is our right as citizens to question the behaviour our leader.

Whether we accept it or not, for any reason, the objective truth still remains that our President is not a very healthy man and may not have had a full grip of the catalogue of events culminating in the Woyome scandal. After all, he is on record to have said that he was not criminally-minded to have supervised the payments of such judgment debts to Mr Woyome. This leaves me to question the whereabouts and role of the Vice President and Mr Newman in relation to the myth surrounding the matter. Who were the principal actors at the Castle, Osu?  Did all the alleged corresponding on the Woyome issue get to the Castle?  Who did Mr Newman discuss the case with? Is it the cabinet or President who claimed earlier not to have known, or his Vice President? Ghanaians want to know because somebody definitely gave an order for that humongous payment which is not captured in the budget.

Ghanaians should remember that when the former president of the United States of America, Mr Bill Clinton was impeached for what society thought was a private matter, the underlining factor was 'cover-up'.  There are certain key players in the governmental machinery who have to come out and tell Ghanaians what they know about the Woyome scandal and their roles thereon. The growing trend of elite conspirators to loot our national assets has to come to an end, otherwise our society would crumble to a halt, not withstanding our national assets.

In addition, I would honestly like to hear direct comments on the issue under reference from former President Rawlings because of his beliefs, desires and love for our nation. We can all envisage his mood at the moment, but that would be mere perception and conjecturing about the real him. He has to come out as a seasoned statesman on the Woyomegate scandal, although he has in the past made a lot of sarcastic statements on our leadership vis-à-vis corruption in governance. It was first about the use of Team B to pursue the government agenda, then the greedy bastards on corruption and now the confirmation of his insight about the truth, 'I told you so'.

Ghanaians must learn to be careful about the people we elect to represent our aspirations.  I do not know whether most of us are there yet because it sounds ridiculous to hear about people parading through the principal streets of Accra in support of someone who has potentially stolen monies meant for national development. What legal rights do we have to cry for development in our communities if that is the way we want our governance to proceed? This is a story that is likely to take place in a 'jungle' where the powerful reigns and reasoning has no meaning. How do we claim to be social democrats that believe in accountability and probity and yet support corruption and fraud? This is mindboggling and definitely beats my imagination, and it is only the brain that can understand this scenario.

The politics of polarization and tribalism is destroying our nation, which is a collateral damage to our own existence. It is more serious when it involves educated people who have chosen to be 'blind' to the truth, making the sightless person better than those with two eyes.  This sensitive issue will eventually paralyze Ghana if our leadership decides to sit on the fence unconcerned because truth will not end as hatred continues to grow. If history is a guide, then we have to study what happened in Rwanda because if Mr Alfred Woyome defrauds the nation and Voltarians rise up to defend him, and Northerners do same in the case of former Ag. Attorney General, Mr Martin Amidu, then where is this country going to? Must the Ashantis also defend Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu and Fantis defend Mr Barton-Odro? This is a strange period in our history. Ghana has to date paid over $450,000,000.00 (four hundred and fifty million dollars) in judgment debts based on the discretion of certain public officials at a time when we are going out sourcing for loans as little as $3,000,000.00(three million dollars) for projects.

What kind of elite crime is going on with these judgment debt payments? Let us put tribalism, vindictiveness, envy and partisan politics aside and deal with the real menace facing our country, otherwise we will continue to be hewers of wood and drawers of water in the midst of plenty. It is about time our leaders understood that politics is about service and not a commercial venture.  There is so much corruption of astronomical proportions in our nation to the extent that I cannot envisage the way forward for our nation, and I do not blame Alfred when he expressed shock as to why society was pursuing him alone for a crime which has been committed regularly by many people. Who are those vampires in question? God save mother Ghana.

  The author writes from the USA
By Eric  Edusei
 

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