IS PRESIDENT OBAMA CORRUPT?

Since the re-election of President Barack Obama on Tuesday 6 November, the NDC propaganda machinery has been trying desperately albeit unsuccessfully to draw a parallel between the electoral fortunes of the US President and President John Dramani Mahama (JDM) of Ghana. Normally one would have thought that such infantile propaganda should be left to likes of Jihadist Baba Jamal, Okudjeto Ablakwa,Solomon Nkansah and Ofosu Kwakye all of whom have established and distinguished themselves as pathological liars. Unfortunately, President John Dramini Mahama has joined this league of narrow-minded desperados who will stop at nothing to distort, misinform and confuse the undiscerning electorate.

Fortunately, the Ghanaian electorate is very discerning enough to know that the re-election of President Obama and the Democratic Party is not the decisive factor in the December Polls. The 2012 election is in fact a referendum on the performance of the Mills-Mahama-Arthur Administration and it is their record in government that will be scrutinized and interrogated and not what happens in the United States of America. The Ghanaian electorate is less interested in the parallels President Dramani Mahama is desperately attempting to draw but rather in the contrasts between the two leaders and the Parties they each represent.

Firstly, the Democratic Party was not rocked by a “Woyome Gate” scandal under which fraudulent Judgment Debts were paid to Party financiers, cronies and Ghost Chiefs. In 2010 alone the Mills-Mahama administration paid a total of GH 684 Million as judgment debts under circumstances that can best be described as very suspicious and amounting to daylight robbery.

Secondly President Obama and the Democratic Party worked to protect and advance the interest of the American People by fulfilling some of the campaign promises including the withdrawal of American Troupes from Iraq, the introduction of a Universal Health Care, Job Creation and the restructuring of the American economy. The same cannot be said of the NDC government since it assumed power in 2009. The one-time Health Insurance Premium remains a mirage, job creation has become an illusion except the 1.6 million imaginary jobs created by Okudjeto Ablwakwa which was contradicted by the sector Minister Mr E. T. Mensah. Ghanaians are not oblivious to the fact that the NDC government is excellent at making promises but hopelessly useless when it comes to fulfilling those promises. It must be said that this election is about performance and not promises and the choices the electorate make on December 7 will be informed by the ability to deliver and not the capacity to deceive.

Furthermore, it must be said that President Obama won the elections purely on merit. He provided decisive leadership and demonstrated the highest level of decency, honesty and integrity both in his public and private life. In effect President Obama earned the respect and admiration of the American people and this was translated into an electoral victory.

The question in the minds of most Ghanaians is this. Can President John Dramani Mahama (JDM) convince any Ghanaian that he has demonstrated similar leadership traits and personal qualities such as honesty, integrity and decency to deserve re-election? Clearly, the numerous corruption scandals in which the President has been an active and willing participant coupled with his inability/failure to provide any convincing answers (responses) should leave no one in any doubt that President Mahama cannot be trusted.

Perhaps one can exercise magnanimity in the case of a one-of scenario. Something always seems to go wrong in any and every deal negotiated by the President. The failed STX Deal negotiated by the then Vice President Mahama cost the Ghanaian Tax Payer a whopping $300 Million for no work done. Can the President explain to Ghanaians why we got such a bad deal? Did he allow personal considerations to override the national interests? These are legitimate questions demanding immediate answers from the President because these issues are more relevant to the Ghanaian voter than Obama´s re-election in America.

In the face of mounting evidence of corruption against President John Dramani Mahama (JDM), particularly with regards to the under hand dealings surrounding the purchase of the Embraer 190 Jet, there is little reason to believe that voters will ignore, forget or simply overlook this gargantuan fraud when they go to cast their votes in December. It is important to recall that under this fraudulent deal which was personally negotiated by the then Vice President Mahama, Ghana had to pay $81 Million as against $31 Million as obtains on the open market. Also, Ghana had to spend extra $17 Million on the Hanger, $ 1 Million for the Stair Case and $3 Million to fix the Entertainment System in the Aircraft. And for the first time in the history of our country a President (the late President Mills) was compelled to set up a three-member committee comprising Honorable William Aboh, Mr George Amoah and Brigadier General Allotey (Rtd) to investigate his own Vice President (John Dramani Mahama).The findings of this committee have so far been shelved. This has led some political pundits and analysts to suspect that the late President´s untimely death could be related to this issue. Moreover, the refusal by government to make the autopsy report public only goes to fuel and reinforce the largely held view that the late President Mill´s death was not natural

Against this backdrop, President Mahama is finding it increasingly hard to find persuadable voters. Indeed this explains the factual recklessness of his campaign that has evolved into tribal rethorics where he bends, twists and fabricates facts.

There is also a compelling argument that Ghanaians would critically examine the contradictory figures provided by President John Dramani Mahama (JDM) regarding the Ghana-Cuban Scholarship Scheme. Although all official records (Cabinet Memo from the Ministry of Health and signed by Hon Joseph Yilechire) show that the government of Ghana spends GH 50,000 on each of the 250 Students, President Mahama told Ghanaians during the IEA Presidential Debate in Tamale that the figure is in fact GH 5,000. The question all rational Ghanaians should be asking is, who is telling us the truth and who should we believe? The President or the Official Memo presented to the Cabinet of which the President was part.? Such apparent contradictions raise serious doubts about the honesty and integrity of President John Dramani Mahama. Due to his personal involvement in the negotiation of this deal, one can legitimately expect that the President would be fully informed and properly briefed at least on the exact cost involved.

Apart from the massive corruption scandals that have characterized the Mills-Mahama-Arthur administration, Ghanaians would assess the performance of the NDC government in terms of the unfulfilled promises, the rising cost of living, the persistent power, gas and water shortages, non- payment of salaries and Wages, the depreciation of the cedi and high interest rates among others.

Indeed the incompetence and ineptitude demonstrated by the NDC government coupled with the uncontrollable increase in corruption both in scope and severity have done little to convince Ghanaians that President John Dramani Mahama (JDM) and the NDC deserve to be re-elected. Ghanaians, it must be said are lost in the clouds of resentful disappointment under the NDC´s misrule and no amount of outright deception and infantile propaganda including the re-election of President Obama in the US can obscure the reality and facts on the ground.

Kwaku Anane-Gyinde
Frankfurt-Germany