So Mahama Was Taunting Akufo-Addo To Pay Dubious GH5.4 Billion Arrears?

The news of the inflated contracts under the erstwhile NDC administration has left many observers extremely besotted in their minds as to how and why Ex-President Mahama could astringently taunt President Akufo-Addo to effect payment of arrears which are obviously fraught with irrevocable doubt.

Long before the Auditor General’s public announcement of the villainous plot, some of us even questioned the rationale behind Ex-President Mahama’s needless bullyragging of President Akufo-Addo over the contractors arrears.

Indeed, it would not be understatement to stress that many discerning Ghanaians were befuddled upon reading the excerpts of Ex-President Mahama’s speech at the NDC’s unity health walk at Techiman in the Brong-Ahafo Region on Saturday 6^th January 2018(See: Mahama taunts Akufo-Addo to pay contractors; 3news.com/ghanaweb.com, 6/01/2018).

Considering the fact that Mahama’s government ungraciously left huge debt amidst puzzling arrears for the incoming NPP government, one would have expected the leader of such maladministration to show a little remorse.

It is important to note that, but for Vice President Bawumiah’s excellent attention to detail, Ghana would have been billions of cedis worst off. Gratifyingly, however, Dr Bawumiah graciously prompted the Auditor General to subject the contractors arrears to strict scrutiny. And, lo and behold, the conspiratorial plot was uncovered to the delight of discerning Ghanaians.

The schematic and cyclical arrangements to dupe or flimflam the country of billions of cedis meant for important developmental projects cannot be allowed to pass without commenting.

If you may recall, somewhere in February 2017, Vice President Dr Mahmoud Bawumiah came out with the sensational news about the inflated cost of constructing a vice presidential palace.

And following Vice President Bawumiah’s chilling revelation, the officials of the erstwhile NDC administration quickly came out with a contentious figure of $5 million as the total cost of constructing the palace.

But in contrast to their desperate explication which was somehow destitute of honesty and integrity, an AESL (the contractors of the project) document revealed that the total cost of the project is $13,968,252.66 covering the cost of stone fencing works, hard wood panel doors, eternal electrification works, sculpture and emblems.

And what is more, according to the AESL’s document, a total amount of $8,179,138.95 had already been disbursed on the project with an outstanding amount of $5,789,113.71 left to be paid for completion.

Apparently, this is one of many outstanding arrears that former President Mahama is said to have unnecessarily taunted President Akufo-Addo to effect payment. How pathetic?

I am not in any way suggesting that Ex-President Mahama was directly involved in the grand scheme to bilk Ghana of billions of cedis,far from it. In fact, I have no evidence to buttress anything of that sort. However, asa leader, Ex-President Mahama failed woefully to halt the mess in his administration.

In all these, what is quite ironic is that, after blatantly failing to provide a true leadership, Ex-President Mahhhama goes about inciting the public against the NPP government for rightly scrutinising the payments of arrears which are manifestly fraught with irreversible doubt.

Given the circumstances, it would be extremely difficult for anybody to blame the unrepentant sceptics who are refusing to exonerate Ex-President Mahama of any blame. In fact, the critics bone of contention that after all fish rots from the head, and therefore Ex-President Mahama is complicit isindeed valid.

In my humble opinion, though, the best Ex-President Mahama could do is to hold his horses, take a deep introspection and share in the blame and cease tauntingthe gallant men and women who are trying their level best to undo the mess left by his NDC administration.

Well, whichever way you may choose to interrogate the issue under discussion, the Auditor General’s exposition nonetheless reflects the depraved, unpatriotic, deceptive, voracious and lackadaisical attitudes of the men and women we put in charge of the national purse.

Who would have thought that the people we chose to entrust with the national purse would turn around and conspire and inflate contracts to the tune of over GH5.4 billion?

K. Badu, UK