body-container-line-1
10.10.2018 Feature Article

That Season Again Of Lip Service, Deception, Failures And Banditti!

That Season Again Of Lip Service, Deception, Failures And Banditti!
10.10.2018 LISTEN

In the Southwest during the Civil War, a mysterious stranger, Joe (Clint Eastwood), and a Mexican outlaw, Tuco (Eli Wallach), form an uneasy partnership -- Joe turns in the bandit for the reward money, then rescues him just as he is being hanged. When Joe's shot at the noose goes awry during one escapade, a furious Tuco tries to have him murdered. The men re-team abruptly, however, to beat out a sadistic criminal and the Union army and find $20,000 that a soldier has buried in the desert.

That was the plot summary of the movie “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” an action film which passed as a toast of many movie enthusiasts in the late 1980s.

At the time, those of us who were underage and couldn’t got to Ho’s plush Cinema, Elliata located behind my former school, Bankoe RC primary, had to cram into a much cheaper base, Liberty Video Centre to savor movie contents, and always would anytime a favorite movie was up to be shown.

That was when one could walk some distance to first check the notice board for movies that were up for showing. Liberty was the place to be; almost always filled to capacity; entrepreneurship right there.

But it is worth recalling that before Liberty, The Point Video Centre was a trailblazer. For those who knew, The Point which is our home was big. Among other things, the curfew at the time of the revolution didn’t help the Video Centre business.

I will fully return to this sometime later.
Now, much as I try to script this piece, “The Bad and the Ugly” part perpetually toss in my mind.

The Bad, in the movie is a ruthless, unfeeling, and sociopathic mercenary whose given job usually is finding and killing people whereas the Ugly, a comical and oafish bandit who is wanted by the authorities for a long list of crimes.

In reality, considering what the people are enduring on daily basis in the hands of the current regime, juxtaposed with “the Bad and the Ugly” movie scene, is there anything markedly different?

In actual fact, are Ghanaians not baying for the blood of the ‘ruthless, unfeeling, sociopathic mercenaries and bandits’ Akufo Addo/Dr Bawumia government over a long list of crimes including unfulfilled promises, deception, lip service, evil acts of banditti and daylight robbery?

We were promised a protection of our scarce resource but a BOST sponsored investigation has established that over 1million litres of fuel have been detected missing from BOST tanks, out of the figure, 671,000litres was claimed to have evaporated into thin air.

Even preceding this report, some officials from the Office of the President, National Security and Ghana Revenue Authority were caught attempting to divert about 15 fuel tankers carrying about 810,000litres of petroleum products. Government for over a year now hasn’t taken action against the culprits.

In opposition, the NPP claimed that $28billion as Ghana’s public debt and 74% Debt to GDP ratio was unacceptable. Today, Ghana’s entire economy size is only about $50billion with a suffocating debt of about $37billion yet the Akufo Ado/Dr Bawumia regime is thinking of borrowing $50billion, a loan just as the size of Ghana’s economy. Debt to GDP ratio no longer matters to them. Seen their true nature?

Before our very eyes, NPP hoodlums called Delta forces stormed a sitting Court and freed their members who were standing trial for manhandling the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator, a reckless act which forced the pregnant presiding Judge to flee for her life.

Instead of NPP leaders reprimanding their thugs for obvious senselessness and unwarranted attacks, they rather embolden them to do worse. Just yesterday on news night on Joy fm, Ashanti Regional Secretary, Sam Pyne sought to behave like the cows he is appointed to manage at the Kumasi Abattoir; seeking to attack the NCCE over their lawful mandate. A big shame again on Sam Pyne!

Only under Akufo Addo government that staffers at the Presidency, Issah Muniru and Joseph Osei were respectively busted for armed robbery and impersonation. It is public knowledge that the Board Chair and the DG for National Sports Authority are walking free even after admitting in a report to the Prez by the Youth and Sports Minister of including names of non-Journalists on the trip to Australia Games.

About a year into office, there were concerns about corruption, mis-governance, etc for which Brong Ahafo [B/A] Timber dealers on one hand and Regional vice Chair Kwame Baffoe aka Abronye on another hand moved against the Regional Minister, Asomah Cheremeh’s nefarious schemes including a Gh6,000 per timber truck extortion from them among others.

Not only were the requests and the petition to President Akufo Addo ignored, Asomah Cheremeh was later rewarded with a juicy Lands and Natural Resources Ministry.

Other cases that found their way to the President’s in-law and Director General of Police CID, Tiwaa Addo Danquah were dismissed and the appointees curiously cleared of any wrong doing. Not bad?

How about the nonsense that the President made of the 2016 promise to protect the public purse? His appointment of #110 Ministers was heavily criticized as a waste of tax payers’ scarce resources. Against the expectation of a reduction during reshuffle, the President rather stubbornly increased it to #112.

Today, it is turning out that our President’s move in opposition including timely presence at disaster areas to empathize with victims was merely for votes. Bagre Dam spillage has for weeks inundated the people and according to media reports, claimed 34 lives and displaced about 50,000 people.

In the eyes of the President, the havoc does not qualify for a National emergency, let alone be declared as such. Lives don’t seem to matter anymore in this country. Complete heartlessness!

No matter the level of havoc, a leader and one with foresight would have in the company of his Burkina Faso counterpart with their teams of able lieutenants long moved to the disaster areas to assess the situation and try to find both interim and lasting solutions to the challenge.

His claim to be in a hurry seemed to mean something else, perhaps only how to redeem his 12years campaign indebtedness, not the wellbeing of the poor Ghanaian. Otherwise how could it take government almost forever to visit Bagre Dam disaster victims, on top of it distribute to them expired, maggot and weevil infested food items?

Sitting at the Flag Staff House, inviting over the Burkinabe President for honors is a useless venture. Why? In the moment of grief, you are inviting for honors those who caused you grief. Who does that? Listen, a government is voted for and paid by the poor tax payer to think to solve problems.

At the height of the flooding, Vice President Dr Bawumia, a son of the area declined to visit disaster victims, claiming he was on a different assignment in the region. In opposition, Akufo Addo and Dr Bawumia were always walking in neck-level floods ostensibly for votes. Is this the competence?

One of the ‘competent’ men, Boakye Agyaako is sacked for undertaking a dubious deal. He insists the President cannot claim to be misled. The truth over the matter is denied the public; hidden between the 2 of them just as a dis/agreement between a Turtle and a Snail. We are not angry enough. Are we?

But subsequent to Mr Agyaako’s dismissal, two appointees from the Krobo area, Deputy E/R Minister, Joe Tetteh and Otiko Afisa Djabah dumped the government, to some in solidarity with Boakye Agyaako.

Unattractive regime and resignations, Deputy CEO of GTDC, Akua Blakofe and Coastal Belt Development Authority CEO, Samuel Attah Mensah both jumped ship. More resignations we are told will soon come. Some of those who resigned say the national interest doesn’t seem to matter to those in charge.

Beyond the resignations, even the promise to provide jobs has become a mirage. “Change: Agenda for jobs” which was the NPP 2016 manifesto theme is hardly mentioned today. The Akufo Addo/Dr Bawumia regime is delivering jobless-ness to the people instead of jobs. On a daily basis, it is about one indigenous business collapse or another so far resulting in about fifteen thousand job losses.

It has never happened that 8 indigenous businesses/banks would collapse under a regime. Ironically too, this is a government that claimed it has come to assist indigenous businesses.

Tell me it doesn’t look like ruthless, unfeeling, and sociopathic mercenaries and bandits in government.

Former Minister, Presidential hopeful, Dr Ekow Spio Garbrah has composed a nice song about the Akufo Addo/Dr Bawumia govt’s failures; deception; lip service; ineptitude; daylight robbery; etc. He will freely grant you a rendition when you ask for one.

Writer: Koku Mawuli Nanegbe

body-container-line